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Hanging bat mobile for older kids

Bats make great decorations for any kids room. You could be making this for a school project, Halloween decoration or just because you love bats. Simple and easy to follow instructions mean kids can follow along easily.

Number of Players:

1+

What You Need:

black construction paper or card

black thread, cut into 6 different lengths

6 small coins

two 30cm lengths of wooden dowel (see note)

white craft glue

orange paint

paintbrush

black permanent marker

strong black cord or yarn

scissors

Activity:

Paint the dowels with orange paint and let them dry.

Cut out 6 simple bats from the black construction card - use varying sizes if you wish.

Place a dot of glue onto the center of each bat and place one of your 6 pieces of black thread into the each dot of glue.

Press a coin into the glue on top of the thread. Repeat for all 6 bats.

Colour the coins with black permanent marker.

Cut two lengths of strong cord or yarn, roughly 60cm long each.

Tie one end of cord to the center of one of the dowels.

Tie the other end to the center of the second dowel.

Tie the second piece of cord to the center of one of the dowels, leaving the end loose; this will be the end from which you'll hang the mobile.

Lay your mobile flat on the work surface.

Tie two hanging bats from the top dowel, on the left and the right.

They should be short enough that they do not reach the bottom dowel.

Tie the other four bats to the bottom dowel.

Alternate the lengths of string so that your bats hang at different lengths.

Hang your mobile to see if everything is evenly spaced.

If one side is too heavy, try moving some bats along or glue another coin to a bat on the lightweight side.